ESPN

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Championship teams need to have more than one great player.

Manvel forced Aledo to prove it in the Class 4A Division II state title game Saturday, keying heavily on Aledo running back Johnathan Gray.

While the Mavericks succeeded in slowing down Gray, Aledo's supporting cast stepped up, leading the Bearcats to a 49-28 win at Cowboys Stadium.

The victory secured Aledo's third consecutive state title.

"It feels just as sweet as the first [title] did back in 1998," Aledo coach Tim Buchanan said. "It's great to win."

Manvel (15-1) made no secret of its main objective: stopping Gray. And it did a good job of limiting his production, especially in the first half. Long runs of 43 and 50 yards provided the bulk of Gray's 134 first-half yards.

But a player as good as Gray eventually breaks loose. Despite Manvel's stellar effort, Gray wound up with 241 rushing yards and his 205th career touchdown, breaking the national record.

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"We really felt like we needed to shut Gray down," Manvel coach Kirk Martin said. "I thought we did a decent job of it. I thought we contained him all right, but he had a good night."

Gray's 37-yard touchdown run gave Aledo (14-2) a 42-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter, pretty much sealing the win.

"It was hard," Gray said. "Those guys are big. The record means a lot. It means our team has worked that much harder than any other team. To break that record, it's a team effort."

With Gray being kept in check for much of the game, quarterback Matthew Bishop (the game's offensive MVP) and his receivers picked up the slack. Bishop threw for 183 yards and three touchdowns to receivers Pate Davis, Willie Gibson and Parker Bradham. Bishop also rushed for two touchdowns.

He was especially good on third down, on which Aledo went 10-for-14. Conversely, Manvel went just 2-for-13, a deficiency that went a long way toward giving Aledo the win.

"That was a complete defense out there," Buchanan said of Manvel. "We had to grind for everything we got. They didn't give us anything. Matt did a great job of scrambling around and finding the open receivers."

Aledo (14-2) jumped out to a 28-7 halftime lead thanks to Manvel's struggles on offense. Gibson opened the scoring with a 44-yard touchdown run after a reception on a bubble route. Todd Christian's 70-yard interception for touchdown put Aledo up 14-0 early in the second quarter.

The Mavericks played catchup for the rest of the game, but their stellar third quarter put them in position to spoil Aledo's three-peat bid. They scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives of the second half. Corey Seymour, who had 90 yards receiving and two touchdowns, caught a 29-yard touchdown pass to trim Aledo's lead to 28-21 late in the third quarter. The teams swapped touchdowns again before Gray's touchdown with 6:49 to play solidified the Bearcats' grasp on the championship.

"Toward the third quarter when they started to come back, we got together as an offensive line and got mad and started playing like the way we should," Aledo offensive lineman Michael Wilson said. "We took over."

LEWISVILLE, Texas -- Imagine a basketball team that combined Marcus Smart, Phil Forte and ... Johnathan Gray?

Well, it happened ... for the past 10 years.

These three North Texas and national athletic standouts grew up playing AAU basketball together every summer since they were in the third grade.

It formed a tight enough friendship that Gray, ranked No. 5 on the ESPNU 150 for football, made the long trek to Lewisville from Aledo on Thursday to watch his buddies take on Montrose Christian in front of ESPN cameras just two days before Gray’s final high school game in the 4A Division I state championship.

“I came out to watch my brothers play,” said Gray, a Texas commit. “I was lucky enough to play AAU basketball with these guys.”

Smart is the No. 11 national basketball recruit for the Class of 2012 and has committed to Oklahoma State. Forte will join him at OSU.

The love will be returned Saturday, not only Forte and Smart, but by the whole Marcus basketball team.

Marcus coach Danny Henderson canceled the team’s weekly Saturday morning practice so the whole squad can travel to Cowboys Stadium for Gray and Aledo’s big game, even though Marcus has its first district game next week.

“I know that’s crazy because we have Plano West coming, but it’s invaluable for my kids to be around that state championship atmosphere, especially when they know Johnathan and some other Aledo players,” Henderson said.

Gray, who broke the Texas single-season touchdown record in last season’s state final and is looking to break several national records Saturday, has an even deeper connection with the Marcus basketball team than just his friendship with Forte and Smart. He filled the role as the team’s motivation speaker last season.

“Last year, before our biggest regular season game, Johnathan came into the locker room and talked to the guys and got them jacked up,” Henderson said. “It was really cool. He’s a great kid.”

So can arguably the greatest high school football player in Texas history also play basketball?

“You ought to see him lock down somebody on defense,” Henderson said. “It’s amazing. He might be the best deny defender I’ve ever seen. His man can’t catch it. It is amazing to watch him deny someone. You can’t screen him because he’s so strong and quick and whoever he’s guarding can’t catch the ball.”

“I’ve never seen a kid play as hard as he does,” Forte said. “He just goes, goes, goes. We call him the Energizer Bunny. He just has a motor that I’ve never seen another player have.”

Gray is so respected by his basketball-playing friends that even Smart said a one-on-one game between the two would be a close battle.

“You know how built Johnathan is, and him using that muscle that he has and that athleticism ... It would be a challenge,” Smart said. “I think I would come out of that with my basketball skills, but it would be a good match.”

Smart and Forte also claim to have predicted Gray’s rise to greatness on the gridiron.

“We always knew coming out when we were younger, just to see this dude out here playing,” Smart said. “We knew he was going to do great things in the future with his football school.”

A few state records and two state championships later, Gray has fulfilled Smart’s prophecy.

Gray is a touchdown away from holding the national record for career touchdowns and 21 points shy of the national point record, both held by Michael Hart of University of Michigan and Indianapolis Colts fame.

Gray banged up his knee in Aledo’s semifinal game against Corsicana last week, but he said despite some swelling, the injury hasn’t kept him from practicing.

“It’s a little swollen, and we don’t really know what’s wrong with it because the swelling keeps coming back," Gray said. "We'll just drain it and see what happens."

After Gray moves on to play for the Texas Longhorns, he'll look forward to the playful banter to come from his then-Big 12 rivals – Forte and Smart.

“Next year, I think [the Longhorns] play in Stillwater, so it will be fun,” Forte said. “I’ll get to go check Johnathan play.”

Aledo's Matthew Bishop was nowhere to be found among 12 quarterbacks receiving recognition on the Associated Press’ Class 4A All-State football team released this week.

Quarterbacks putting up gaudy statistics while playing in offenses specifically designed for passing tend to dominate all-star teams.

That’s not the way that Aledo, with Johnathan Gray in the backfield, rolls.

But ask Bearcats coach Tim Buchanan or Aledo fans and they’ll tell you they wouldn’t trade Bishop, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior, for any quarterback on the all-state list.

"For those all-state teams, all they look at is stats,'' Buchanan said. "And the guys that throw it 60 times a game are the ones that make it.''

Bishop and the Bearcats (13-2) will attempt to win a third straight state title when they face Manvel (15-0) in the Class 4A Division II championship game at noon Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Class 5A state championship games will follow at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Most of the pregame attention falls on Gray, the AP offensive player of the year who has a chance to break national records for rushing touchdowns and points. But when defenses focus too much on Gray, that’s when Bishop goes to work.

The Bearcats have a 41-2 record over three seasons with Bishop as a starter. In playoff games during that span, Bishop is 16-0, including five wins this season. Of course, it hasn't hurt that Gray is there to receive handoffs and run for 204 touchdowns.

Bishop’s statistics paint a picture of the kind of quarterback former University of Texas coach Darrell Royal won so many games with in the 1960s and 70s -- guys like Duke Carlisle, Bill Bradley, James Street and Marty Akins -- that might not fit the mold of an NFL quarterback but were at their best in the clutch, utilizing varied skills.

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As a passer, Bishop often is overlooked. He owns a 66.8 career completion percentage and has thrown for a 7,875 yards and 80 touchdowns in his career. He’s reduced his interception total each season while raising his passing yardage.

"Matt is the most accurate passer I've ever coached,'' Buchanan said. "Look at the games when the other team has slowed down Johnathan and Matt has had 300 yard passing games. I remember that game against Stephenville in the playoffs last year when he threw clutch fourth-down passes, improvising on both. We wouldn't have won that game without those plays.''

As a ball carrier, Bishop isn’t going to be mistaken for Gray, but he has 1,510 yards and 15 touchdowns over his career and has a knack of knowing how to get to the first-down marker.

It was as a runner on a two-point conversion in his sophomore season that Bishop experienced his most devastating moment as a Bearcat. In the final minutes of a state semifinal victory over Denison, Bishop suffered broken collarbone and had to miss the state championship victory over Brenham the following week.

Bishop got his chance to play in a state final last year, completing 9-of-12 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns in Aledo’s 69-34 defeat of La Marque. The quarterback also carried nine times for 54 yards in that game.

In Saturday's title game, Bishop will try to avoid 6-foot-3, 245-pound Manvel defensive end Taiwan Johnson, who is being recruited by Nebraska, Arkansas and Oklahoma State, among others. Johnson has 11 sacks (five in the playoffs) and 86 tackles.

If Aledo can prevail, a third state championship ring for Bishop should more than make up for an all-state snub.

ALEDO (13-2) vs. MANVEL (15-0)
Noon Saturday, Cowboys Stadium

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STAFF PICKS Bi-district »   Area round » Region semis »   Region finals » State semis »   Finals »   Totals » STATE BRACKETS Class 5A: Div. I | Div. II Class 4A: Div. I | Div. II REGION BRACKETS 5A Division I: Reg. 1 | Reg. 2 5A Division II: Reg. 1 | Reg. 2 4A Division I: Reg. 1 | Reg. 2 4A Division II: Reg. 1 | Reg. 2

What: Class 4A Division II state championship game.

When we saw them last: Johnathan Gray tied the national career touchdown record with five scores in Aledo’s 68-28 rout of Corsicana in a state semifinal in Mesquite. For Manvel, quarterback Shane McCarley threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score in the Mavericks’ 31-28 state semifinal victory over Corpus Christi Calallen in San Antonio.

Last in the playoffs: In 2010, Aledo routed La Marque, 69-34, in the Class 4A Division II state title game for its second straight state championship. The 2010 season ended for Manvel in a 44-28 loss to La Marque in the Region III final.

Key matchup: Aledo’s offense is built around the record-setting Gray, who has rushed for 3,664 yards and 64 touchdowns this season. Manvel’s defense, led by end Taiwan Johnson (6-3, 238), has held playoff opponents to an average of 162 rushing yards per game.

Players to watch: Gray needs one touchdown and 21 points to break national career touchdown and scoring records. Quarterback Matthew Bishop has thrown for 2,800 yards and 29 touchdowns. Receiver Michael Mann has 51 catches for 811 yards and nine touchdowns. For Manvel, McCarley shares time at quarterback with Julian Walker and they have combined to throw for over 3,000 yards. Kaylon Melancon leads the Mavs in receiving with 36 catches for 743 yards and 11 touchdowns. Selwyn Green has rushed for 864 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Prediction: Gray caps a record-setting high school career by leading the Bearcats to a third consecutive state title: Aledo 40, Manvel 28.